The Vale of Cedars eBook

“It needs not, gracious Sovereign; my strength
will not fail me,” replied Marie, her sweet
voice falling distinctly on every ear, while Stanley
started at its calmness; and she gracefully refused
the seat Don Felix proffered. “Give no
more thought to me than to any other witness; it is
not a subject’s place to sit in presence of her
Sovereign.”

But Ferdinand’s kindliest feelings were excited,
and instead of permitting the Sub-Prior to give the
necessary details, he himself, with characteristic
brevity, but clearly and kindly, narrated the progress
of the evidence for and against the prisoner, and how
great the weight laid on the proofs, if there were
any, of acknowledged enmity, and premeditated injury,
on the part of the accused towards the deceased.
The questions to which he was compelled to request
her reply were simply, “Was she aware of any
cause of hatred existing between the accused and the
deceased?” “Had she ever heard opprobrious
and insulting epithets used by the former or the latter?”
“or any threat, implying that the death of Don
Ferdinand Morales was desired by the prisoner?”
“Had she ever seen the prisoner draw his sword
upon the deceased?—­and had she any reason
to believe that Don Ferdinand had ever refused, or
intended to refuse to meet the prisoner in honorable
combat, and so urged the gratification of vengeance
by a deed of murder? Reverend Father,”
continued the King, “be pleased yourself to
administer the customary oath.”

Father Francis instantly rose from his seat, and taking
the large and richly embossed silver crucifix from
the Monk, who had administered the oath to all the
other witnesses, himself approached Marie. “Marie
Henriquez Morales,” he said, as he reverentially
held the solemn symbol of his religion before her,
“art thou well advised of the solemnity of the
words thou art called upon to speak? If so, swear
to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth. Swear by the Holy Symbol which I support;
by the unpronounceable name of the Father, by the
flesh and blood, the resurrection and the life of our
Lord and Saviour Christ Jesu; by the Holy Spirit; by
the saving and glorious Trinity; by the goodly army
of Saints and Martyrs; daughter, swear, and the blessing
or the curse be with you as you swear true or falsely.”

The fine countenance of the Sub-Prior glowed with
the holy enthusiasm of his appeal; his form, as he
stood, one hand clasping the crucifix, the other emphatically
raised, seemed dilated to unusual height and majesty,
and the deep solemnity of his accents so enhanced the
awful responsibility of the oath, that it thrilled
throughout the multitude as it had never done before.
So deep was the stillness which followed, that not
one of those vast crowds seemed to breathe. To
the prisoner it was a moment of intense emotion:
for if, indeed, Marie had once told him truth, that
oath, to her, even in its solemnity, was as nought;
but ere he could even think as to the wording of her
answer, that answer came, and so distinct, so unfalteringly
spoken, that there was not one person present who
even strained his ear to catch the words.